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Fireballs over Harrismith

Harrismith is a small town in the agricultural heartland of South Africa. On 30 October 2011, resident Riaan van Greuning saw balls of fire drifting through the sky at high speed, appearing in the sky to the north of his home and heading south before vanishing in the clouds. Here is an excerpt from his email to Urban Astronomer, providing a lucid and detailed description:

They were all moving approximately at the same speed, I would say according to the time and distance. About 300km/h, but that is just a guess. It seem to appear from the North and not the North horizon and it disappeared through the clouds to the south. There was a slight curve in the movement but no sudden direction changes. The shape stayed the same large, round and bright as in the photos. You could actually see that it is burning. There were no sound at all. The first one we saw was 22h00 and lasted for about 1min, from the time we noticed it. Five minutes later we saw another one and it also lasted for about a minute from the time we noticed it. Then we went outside and waited with the hope we saw another. About 10 min passed. Then two appeared and moved together for about 1min 30sec then they start to split , as they moved on another appeared. This one moved in the same pattern as the others but appeared bigger and you could see the burning and flames more clearly.

Luckily, he had the presence of mind to grab a camera and filmed the fireballs as they passed overhead. He has kindly made the footage available on YouTube.

Fireballs over Harrismith

So what is this? I was baffled at first – I’d never seen anything like it, and turned to the local astronomical community. Claire Flanagan of the Johannesburg Planetarium was the first to reply, suggesting that he might have seen Chinese Lanterns.

Chinese Lanterns have many names and come in many forms, but the type we’re concerned with are simple model hot air balloons. They are built with an envelope of some sort, open at the bottom, with a fire suspended beneath to heat the air and provide the light show. Some are made with large plastic bags, and a candle hanging from string, while others are crafted from paper and balsa wood, with oil burners on wooden platforms. They have a long history, having been used to communicate in wartime and to mark occasions like weddings and funerals. Today they are often promoted as a safe, pet-friendly alternative to fireworks. For people downwind who have never seen them before, like myself and Riaan, they can provide an astonishing spectacle, full of mystery and wonder.

Update: 18 November 2011

A few evenings ago, I happened to look out my kitchen window, and saw a constellation of four steady glowing lights gracefully sweeping across the sky. I called my wife, grabbed my binoculars, and headed out the front door for a better look. They were moving away at a steady speed and an oblique angle. As they faded away into the distance, new ones appeared coming from the same place. Just then, another light appeared, low above the horizon. It was much brighter, an intense white. It moved much more slowly than the others (which were a much warmer, yellower white) and in a different direction. It headed directly upwards, before changing direction and vanishing behind the trees.

The second light was obvious – The area we live in is surrounded by 2 major civilian airports, and one military airbase. There are several standard flight paths which I’m familiar with, and this light followed one of them exactly. A few minutes after vanishing behind the trees, it reappeared on the other side, now dimmer (the landing lights were no longer pointed directly at me) and accompanied by red and green running lights. And I could now hear the engine. Mystery solved! But the steady yellow lights? Well if I hadn’t been contacted by Riaan and researched the article above, I would have been totally flummoxed. Which just goes to show: Whoever you are, whatever your expertise, there are still perfectly ordinary things out there that will surprise and amaze you, and that you won’t be able to figure out on your own. Remember that, next time you see something strange in the sky and conclude that it “must be Aliens”.

Comments? Questions? Why not mail me at uastronomer@gmail.com

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Allen is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five beautiful kids, a barely competent chess player, and the owner and publisher of the Urban Astronomer podcast and website.
He is also the director of the Citizen Science Section of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, where he tries to help ASSA members do good work with citizen science projects.